1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a switchgear cabinet with a rack, assembled from profiled frame sections and paneled with lateral elements and at least one cabinet door, and which encloses a switchgear cabinet interior, in which electrical installations are housed, and wherein in an area of at least one vertical side of the rack a cooling device is arranged which removes heat generated in the switchgear cabinet interior.
2. Description of Related Art
A conventional switchgear cabinet is known from German Patent Reference DE 41 11 457 C1. The rack of the switchgear cabinet is assembled from twelve equal profiled frame sections. The sides of the rack are paneled with vertical lateral elements. The switchgear cabinet can be refurbished with a cooling device. Thus, a lateral element is removed from the rack and a cooling device is screwed to the vertical profiled frame section in its place. The cooling device encloses an interior chamber, in which the cooling units are housed. It is possible to aspirate air from the switchgear cabinet interior into the interior chamber, to cool the air there and then to return the air into the switchgear cabinet interior.
It is one object of this invention to provide a switchgear cabinet of the type mentioned at the outset, in which refurbishing with an airconditioning device is possible with a small outlay of parts.
This object of this invention is attained with a separating element fastened on the profiled frame sections and distanced parallel in relation to the lateral element which, together with the lateral element, forms an air guide conduit and which has several openings which create a spatial connection of the air guide conduit with the switchgear cabinet interior. It is possible to convey air through the air guide conduit and at least one opening with at least one ventilator.
For refurbishing the switchgear cabinet, the lateral element becomes a component of the airconditioning device, so that the latter need not be exchanged. This simple step considerably reduces the structural outlay for a cooling device. Moreover, if a separating element is installed in the interior of the switchgear cabinet, the exterior appearance of the switchgear cabinet is not, or is only negligibly, affected.
For a simplified assembly the openings cut in a vertical wall of the separating element are arranged symmetrically distributed with respect to the horizontally and/or vertically extending center transverse plane of the separating element.
In a preferred embodiment of this invention the separating element has at least two rows of openings, which are evenly distanced from each other. One of the rows is arranged in the bottom area and the second row in the cover area of the interior chamber. The heated air collected in the cover area can be aspirated through the upper openings, cooled in the airconditioning device and then re-introduced into the switchgear cabinet through the openings in the bottom area. At least one further row of openings can be arranged in the center area between the bottom and cover areas of the switchgear cabinet interior, in order to thus provide further introduction or removal options of air into, or respectively out of, the air guide channel.
In a preferred embodiment, the openings can be closed off independently of each other by covers. This makes it possible for the user to use existing openings of a present airconditioning device, which in the particular case are suitable for effective cooling. The openings not required are simply closed off by the covers. For example, the covers can be designed as plate-like elements, which are suspended by hooks on the separating element and are secured to the separating element with a fastening element.
In order to make the air conveyance in the guide conduit possible in a simple manner, the ventilators are arranged in the area of one or several openings, which aspirate the air conveyed in the guide conduit through the opening out of the switchgear cabinet interior, or discharge into it. In this case, the ventilators are primarily arranged on the side of the separating element facing the switchgear cabinet interior.
It is thus possible to place the separating element closely against the lateral element, so that a space-saving construction is possible.
This invention is explained in greater detail by an embodiment shown in the drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 shows a rack of a switchgear cabinet and a separating element fastened thereon, in a perspective exploded view;
FIG. 2 shows an air conditioning device, embodied as a cooling device and fastened on the rack, in a partial view; and
FIG. 3 shows the cooling device of FIG. 2, but in a different construction.